Suite for a Young Man for solo piano

The five movements of the Suite, although played without a great deal of pause, are distinct, the titles indicating the moods and impressions created by the music in each. In the first movement, Proud and Solemn, chordal sonorities in different rhythms and registers evoke the quiet pleasure the self-absorbed youth takes in himself. In the second movement, The First Kiss, the music combines tenderness and nervousness. The composer cautions (in fact, about the entire Suite), "Don’t tell too much. The element of surprise will be lost." The music is very clear, however, as to whether or not this episode culminates successfully. The third movement, Beginning Dancing Lessons, conveys the self-consciousness and the short concentration span of the adolescents, perhaps some frustration with the discipline of the lessons, and a surprising blue note.

The title of the fourth movement, Clusteritis, and the dominant musical technique employed herein constitute a musical pun. A “cluster” is a group of tones, usually dissonances or half-steps, played simultaneously; an “-itis” denotes an illness. Whose sickness is this? Contemporary composition cannot eschew this technique, a necessary stage in the development of harmony. Likewise, the young man at his stage in life seeks compulsively to spend his time in a group of his peers, no matter how awkward.

The first four movements are balanced by the much longer fifth movement, Cotillion, which collects and synthesizes material from the entire Suite. A cotillion is an elaborate dance or formal ball, and this is the longest and most brilliant movement of the Suite. The form is ABA with a Coda. The A section is the longest, the B section recapitulating material from the previous four movements, as though the youth in his moment of joy has brought his entire personality together, despite its troublesome parts. The Coda intensifies the A material and brings the whole to a climactic conclusion.

The composer demonstrates his affection and faith in the essential health of a young man in the musical progression he creates, from Proud and Solemn, the youth at the verge of change, through change and problems, to celebration in the important final movement. The entire Suite becomes a paean to life and to development.

This piece was commissioned by Daniel Sher. He premiered the work on September 14, 1980, in the Community Concerts in Baton Rouge. The piece was later reworked for symphony orchestra and wind ensemble.